Two Worlds Collide
by Nayeli Gold
Summary: Chapter 6 is up! In which Rhia tries to figure out what's going on and realizes she's lost something precious.
1. Of death and stairs

*Hey all! This chapter may not have much to do with Lord of the Rings just yet, but never fear, it's getting there, I promise! This first chapter is a little more depressing and longer than I planned on it being, but don't worry, it will get better! Please enjoy and review!*  
  
My parents died two months ago. Exactly one month, three weeks and four days ago, me, my brother Chad, and my sister Adie (Adriana) come to live in this house from Hell. But please, let me start from the beginning.  
  
My name is Rhia, and I'm a fifteen-year-old girl. I was born in New Jersey, moved to Pennsylvania, then to Kansas, then to Michigan, and now, finally, to West Virginia. I have eyes that are usually brown, but change colors upon my emotions and sometimes for no reason at all. I've scared some people with this trick before, it's great. The only family I have now are Adie, Chad, my aunt, my uncle, and my cousins Nick, Sara, Laura, Dan, and Suzanne. I live with all of them.  
  
I call this place Hell because of my aunt, uncle, and numerous cousins. My aunt and Sara bring in the only money here. They are prostitutes, and apparently fairly good ones because they bring in a fair amount of money. My uncle, Nick, Laura, Sara, and Dan are all druggies and alcoholics and with the exception of Laura and Sara, womanizers; the two of them are into men.  
  
Every morning, I walk Chad and Adie to their Jr. High School and then get to the High School about ten or fifteen minutes late. It's a long walk, but it's okay, because then is one of the only times the three of us have alone together. Adie and Chad get to school on time usually, but it's gotten to the point where the teachers don't even bother to give me detentions for being late anymore. In fact, I don't even know if they notice anymore. After school, I head back to the Jr. High and get Chad and Adie. Then, the three of us scurry over to the High School again and just wait around or talk to people.  
  
Today is just one of those days. Adie, Chad, and I are sitting at one of those lunch tables that are left out in the middle of the MPR/lunch room chowing down on some good old animal crackers and Coke. This is the only thing we eat all day. The three of us combined all the money we had from Michigan, and split it into thirds. Then, each one of us took a third to hide in our lockers, so our new "family" couldn't steal it.  
  
At around four thirty, we gather our stuff and head home. It takes us about an hour and a half to get back home, but when we finally do, we try to sneak down to the basement without anyone catching us. Unfortunately, today is an unlucky day because Nick catches us. After getting the ever- living shit beaten out of me, I make my way meekly to the basement. Chad and Adie are they're waiting for me unharmed, and that makes the bruises hurt a little less. I've taught them not to try to help me, I can take care of myself, I just want them to get down and out of harms way. I'll take on the cousins. The two of them have changed for bed, and are sitting in the corner of the basement that we've put out pillow in. The basement is unfinished, so this corner is the part that we make sure to keep clean. The corner is the only thing we can claim.  
  
About five minutes later, after I've changed, Suzanne, my youngest cousin comes down. She, of all my cousins, is the only decent one. I guess it's because she is only seven years old and the rest of her family hasn't gotten to her yet. She always tries to come down to us. I tell stories to my brother and sister, and I'm more than happy to include her. I usually just tell stories I come up with, or little humorous one's from the past, but occasionally, I am able to sneak a book home. Today however, I am telling the story of how my dad thought he had died when he traveled to Italy, and woke up in the middle of the night forgetting about the time change. Yes, he believed he'd died, because it was very quiet, and pitch dark. Everyone enjoys this story, especially Chad, so I tell it quite often.  
  
"Rhia? Why does your dad think he's dead?" Asks Suzanne. She really gets into the story, and always asks questions, even if she knows the answer.  
  
"Because he can't see. It's dark out and he's not used to the time change." I say laughing. "Here, let me continue." She grins at me and nods, shifting a little to get comfortable.  
  
"YOU BITCH!" screams my uncle, hurtling drunkenly down the basement stairs. "How dare you make Suzanne listen to your whore stories!"  
  
"Daddy, they're not!" Shouts Suzanne in my defense, but it doesn't help; he charges right at me. Quickly, I motion for the three of them to get upstairs and away, and then set myself for the beating I'm going to endure.  
  
"Dang." I think. "I already received my beating for today" recalling the bruises and the little bit of blood I'm still dealing with from fighting with Nick. I'll be lucky if that's all that I get in this fight though. My uncle is three times bigger than me, not to mention as drunk as anything I've ever seen, and I was backed into the corner. There is no way I'm going to be able to beat him; I'd discovered this in the past. Still, I got ready to try.  
  
WHAP! And it started. I think I may have hit him once. He kept hitting me and hitting me; I couldn't help but cry. All of a sudden, he slammed me up against the wall, and all the air I had left, was gone. "You know what?" He asks as he begins to choke me. "I'm tired of dealing with your family." My eyes got wide, even as the world got dark. Chad and Adie were being led down the stairs by Nick and my aunt with the rest of their family following. Suzanne was last, and she was crying. Everyone else though, was grinning drunkenly.  
  
SLAM! My aunt and Nick then started to beat up Chad and Adie, while the rest of the family standing behind and watching, silent. I kept trying to get loose from my uncle's grip. I had to get to my siblings! However, I was still pinned quite well against the wall, and the lack of air for so long was taking its toll. I couldn't think, couldn't see, couldn't hear, could barely move. The world was a mix of huge, gray forms, mumbles, and pain.  
  
And then all of a sudden I could breath again. I was thrown onto the floor with Chad and Adie, but I was to weak to comfort them. Instead, I lay there, coughing, bleeding and bruised as my brother and sister clung to me, bleeding and bruised as well. My uncle was standing over us with a gun in his hand. He looked at me and grinned wickedly. "Saruman won't have to worry about you guys any more."  
  
"What?" I managed to cough out. Saruman was from Lord of the Rings, so what the heck was he talking about? Was my uncle really that drunk? However, I did not have time to worry about it.  
  
BANG! The gun went off and my brother convulsed suddenly. He didn't even have a chance to scream. Deaf with the shot, I could only stare at my dead brother in absolute horror, unable to move or make a sound. Chad had been shot through the head and his blood was all over me.  
  
BANG! "NO!" I screamed and cried at the same time. Adie! I'd completely forgotten about my little sister in my shock. Now she too was dead and I clung to her. I wept, covered in my brothers, my sisters, and my blood. Energy I didn't know I still had tore through my body as I leapt like a bloody tiger upon my uncle, knocking him hard to the ground. He hit his head hard upon the cement floor of the basement and didn't move again. I kept hitting him over and over; it was all I could think to do.  
  
Suddenly, I was flying through the air and then slammed into the wall. Looking up, I say Nick. "You killed my father!" He yelled in my face.  
  
"You destroyed my life!" I shouted back at him.  
  
BANG! All of a sudden, the world stopped. Laura had come up behind Nick and shot me in the stomach with her father's gun. The two of them backed off, and I lay against the wall, clutching my stomach. I wanted to kill them, to make them feel my pain. I'd lost everything, my family, my dreams, and now, I was about to lose my life. "Burn!" I shouted. "Feel my pain! Feel my heart breaking! Feel my loss!" Everyone in the room sagged a little, as if suddenly hit by a terrible burden, but I didn't notice. I just kept shouting.  
  
"No! Stop her!" Shouted Sara. "Saruman said not to let her cast anything! Stop her!" She ran up to Laura and snatched the gun from her. BANG!  
  
No pain this time. A purple shield suddenly enveloped me.a shield of my own power. "Burn." I whispered softly, glaring at Sara, full of rage and hate. Immediately, Laura was enveloped in flames.  
  
"Ahhh!" screamed Nick. He brought out a dagger from somewhere and moved into stab me and I began to panic. I didn't think I could take another wound, the gunshot was just to much as it was.  
  
How did I get that purple shield up?!? Nick's arm lifted. God no! How had I done it?!? His arm crashed down and I felt the mettle enter me. "Ahh!" I yelped. Nick backed off and I slid down the wall to the floor. Pain.red.hot.pain. Nick had done this to me and I would do the same to him.and Laura.and Dan.and my aunt. "Suzanne, get out of here." I said slowly, in extreme pain.  
  
"You aren't dead yet!?!" said Laura in disbelief, taking her brother's knife and coming at me again. Suzanne did as I said and scurried up the stairs. "Die bitch!" screamed Sara as she hurtled towards me.  
  
"No." I said calmly, staring at her. Sara stopped in her tracks.  
  
"What?" Everyone asked in disbelief.  
  
"No." I said again, with more force, but never taking my eyes off my cousin. "You die." I said slowly. Everyone's eyes opened wide and suddenly the room was in action, everyone racing towards me in an attempt to kill me before I burnt any more of them, as I had burnt Sara. "BURN!" I shouted, before anyone could reach me.  
  
Everyone went up in flames, and I was blinded with my own fire. They screamed and then fell, everyone reduced to a few piles of ash. Silence surrounded me. I crawled over to Adie and Chad.  
  
"Oh my God, I'm so sorry guys. I love you. I love you! I tried so hard to protect you.so why am I still alive! Why! Why!" The world was going dark again, but this time, I knew it was because I was bleeding so much. So much blood. I was covered in it. "No." I said out loud. "No, I will not give in. I will not let them beat me. I cannot!" I reached over to my Adie, took the rose ring that she always wore off her finger, and kissed her goodbye. Then I reached over to Chad. His head had been practically blown off, but I kissed what I could anyway and took off the silver cross necklace and placed it around my own neck. His blood dripped down off it onto me.  
  
"Ughh." I moaned as I painfully climbed to my feet. Somehow, I made it to the stairs, where I practically hauled myself up them. When I finally got to the top, I collapsed to my knees, feeling like I had scaled Mount Everest in a minute. "Ughh." I moaned again, resting my head against the wall. "No!" I suddenly shouted. I couldn't fall asleep, that's how people died. They went to sleep and never woke up. No, I had to stay awake.  
  
Yes, that's all this had become, a struggle for survival. Slowly and painfully, I started to stand, but collapsed again. "Ughh.ehhh." I moaned. I'd have to crawl, there was no way I could stand anymore. I got to my hands and knees and opened the basement door. There were feet there. Slowly, I looked up.  
  
"Hello Rhia." Said an evil Suzanne. She looked possessed. Her normally green eyes were red and I could feel something radiating off of her. Something that wasn't from this world. "Do you know how many people die from falling down the stairs each year?" I shook my head, and started to back up. There was something about her. She was no longer my cousin. "Neither do I" she continued. "But I know that this year, there's gonna be at least one!  
  
The last thing I remember is little Suzanne, the only cousin I trusted, standing at the top of the stairs, worshiping Saruman, and me, finally giving up and praying to God to forgive me as I closed my eyes and went to sleep. 


	2. Of introductions and frozen feet

***Hey! Sorry about that last chapter title. Hehe, whoops! Anyway, I hope you enjoy this next Chapter! Just in case you are wondering, I switch characters per chapter.***  
  
I came here two years ago. After me, my friend Seth came, and then there was this other girl named Karin. Actually, how it all went, was that I came first, two years ago as I said. Then, Karin arrived, three months after I got here, only I didn't meet her until two weeks ago. There's a story to that, but I'll let it come later. Anyway, one year after that, Seth, my best friend arrived here.  
  
Here is Middle Earth. I'm not quite sure why they call it Middle Earth. Are there other earths as well? Well, that's not really important. What is important is that somehow, me, Seth, and Karin all got to Middle Earth from the regular planet Earth somehow. We aren't really sure how, actually. Oh, and I thought you should know this little bit of information too: even though the three of us all got to Middle Earth at different times, we all left the earth as you know it at the same time. Weird, huh? Yeah, I thought so too.  
  
What this means is that there could be more of us out there. By us, I mean "travelers." That's what we call ourselves. Yeah I know, not to creative, but we don't really care. Here, let me give you some background on us Travelers.  
  
First up is Karin; ladies first. Karin is female and sixteen years old. She's five foot one, and was born in India. She has dark skin and black eyes and black hair that' s always kept short. She say's she doesn't want it "in the way". She moved to the USA when she was five. Karin is easily the smartest one of the group, even though she is the youngest. I swear, the girl does calculus problems for FUN. If there ever comes a need for battle, which with the way things are going, there will be, I'm sure Karin will be in charge, or at least involved with battle plans. She's also learning to use a bow and arrow, and carries two swords for fighting. That's another thing about Karin; she's not afraid to kill. In fact, I'd say she rather enjoys it. She always wants to train and mock fight. Seth and I often decline her invitations to train with her though. This has started to frustrate her, and she often declares that we are "total wimps". Sometimes, she mentions a friend she had back on our old Earth. A girl named Rhia, who she says would have fought us. Seth and I haven't told Karin that we knew a girl named Rhia too, and actually from the same area that she came from. I don't want to mention her, and Seth just keeps his mouth shut. I'll probably talk more about her later. Anyway, back to Karin, she has a green power. She is able to bring up a shield of green power from within herself to protect herself from anything coming her way. The only way to get through the shield is to use your own power and hope it's stronger than hers, or just keep whacking away at it. Usually though, you have to resort to using your own power. Karin can also through the shield anywhere she wants, which proves to be quite handy. If ever anyone is in a position where they need help, she can form the shield around them, or, she can simply send the shield flying at an enemy and hit him with it, sending him flying.  
  
Next is Seth. I have been friends with Seth since I was nine. Seth used to be older than me, but no longer. This was accomplished by me getting to Middle Earth before he did. I used to be eight months younger than Seth, but now, since I came to Middle Earth a year and a half before he did, yet we all left regular Earth at the same time, I am about one year older than him. Oh, Seth is eighteen. Another thing about Seth is that he used to be a drug addict. I swear, this must have been a tough way to quit; he simply had to because there are no drugs here for him to use! Seth fights mainly with his body, though he also has learned to wield a sword. Really though, Seth is a great fighter, better than Karin. He's probably the best fighter I've ever seen. He also has a shield too, but it's not that strong. His strength is physical fighting. The color of Seth's shield is bright red, but it doesn't really last long, and he usually only uses it to knock people off balance, he can't even knock them over with it, unless they really aren't expecting it. Oh, and for all you girls out there, Seth is 5'9 with blond hair and green eyes. Very muscular too, but he has quite the temper and isn't to understanding, so even though he has the looks, I wouldn't call him your ideal man.  
  
Last, but not least, there's me. My name's Harris. I'm nineteen now. I mainly fight using a bow and arrow, but I have also learned a little bit of sword handling (complements of Karin of course) and hand to hand combat. Though really, I learned the hand to hand mostly back on Earth. I'm 5'8, brown hair and blue eyes. I don't really like having blue eyes, it gets me to much attention. What is with people and blue eyes? I'd much rather just be left alone. While I can defend myself, I am mainly a magic powerhouse. My shield color (yes, I have one too) is blue, and like Karin and Joe, I can either whack people with it (which is quite enjoyable, I must say) or I can merely use it as a shield. However, for some reason, I can also do a bit more. I can call fire, water, lightning and ice out of thin air and direct them at anything I want. I must say, I destroyed quite a few trees before I quite learned to control the fire and lightning, and Karin was just about ready to run me through when I flooded her room bye accident. Oh, and not only did I do it once, I did it twice. Whoops! Surprisingly, everything went well with ice. I didn't destroy anything. I over froze a couple things, and sometimes it barely created even the slightest icicle, but generally, ice went well. The elves here want to teach me to heal, but I'm not sure I can do it.  
  
Here is Rivendell. Karin, Seth and I all showed up around Rivendell, the only thing was that Karin decided to go in the opposite direction of the city (though she didn't know she was doing so) and practically got herself killed by a cougar before she was found by a few Elf scouts. They then brought her to Rivendell where Elrond healed her. When she woke up, Seth and I were sent to talk to her, because the elves assumed she was from our world as she was wearing jeans (something they'd never seen before) and a tank top with some weird design on it. (I can't quite remember what it was.) As it turns out, and as you have heard from me already, Karin was indeed from Earth, and not only that, she was from Kansas and friends with a girl named Rhia.  
  
Which of course brings me to her. (Rhia I mean.) All three of us knew her somehow. Karin was friends with her back when she still lived in Kansas, Seth and I met her at a camp in Kansas, and then I stayed in touch with her when she moved to Michigan (which Karin did also; stayed friends I mean). Then, the two of us lost contact with her, and never heard from her again. Apparently, so did everyone else in Kansas who Rhia had kept in contact with. Okay, so why should you care? I don't know. I guess, maybe 'cause it's me who's telling this story, and I happened to have fallen for her while at that summer camp, though I'm over it now. Haha, yeah, but another reason might be that I think she's the reason we're here. I mean, she's the only connection the three of us have. Seth and me believe she will show up here soon, if she isn't here already. Actually, right now, I'm heading to Karin's room right now to tell her about all of this. That I know Rhia, and that I think she may already be here, I mean.  
  
Click, click, click. "Why are walkways always made of stone?" I wonder aloud.  
  
"Because what would be the point of walking down them if they didn't make that annoying 'click' noise?" retorted Seth, getting up from a bench he was waiting for me on. "So. I don't really know this girl Karin that well yet." He continues. "Do you think she'll be angry at us for not telling her that we knew Rhia once and that we believe she's on this planet?"  
  
"I hope not. Last time she got angry was when I flooded her room-"  
  
"Twice."  
  
"Yeah, twice. She seemed mad enough to run me through with those dang swords of hers."  
  
"I know." He said, laughing at me. He seems to take great pleasure finding something to constantly bother me about. Usually, it's that I'm a fighting wimp, at least as far as he's concerned.  
  
"Aww, knock it off." I say, shoving him. He shoves me back. An "Ooph" escapes me as I get shoved into a wall.  
  
"Get ready magic boy, here I come!" he said jokingly as he started to charge me. Seth and I have never actually fought each other with the intent to harm yet.  
  
"Ready and waiting." I reply. I concentrate and. I am rewarded!  
  
"Hey!!! That's not fair!!!" Seth's feet are now frozen to the ground, a mess of ice surrounding them and holding them down.  
  
"I thought you said you were coming?" I say, raising my eyebrows at him in mocking laughter.  
  
"Ahhhhrrrggg! Let me go!" Seth lurched around, attempting, and failing, to pull his feet out of the ice that trapped him. SLAM! "OUCH!" He'd lost his balance with all that lurching around and fallen flat on his face.  
  
"Hahahaha! You know. I can't just make it go away. It doesn't work like that. I'll either have to burn it off, or you'll just have to wait for it to melt." I said, acting like I didn't care, lifted my nose a little, and closed my eyes in a snotty way. I couldn't hold it for long though, and burst out laughing again.  
  
***And so ends chapter two. How will Karin react to Harris and Seth? Will Rhia actually show up in Middle Earth? Wait and see! Give me your reviews please! Thank's so much!*** 


	3. Of Grace and thunderstorms

*** Just as a note, I change the story line a bit. I hope you all don't mind. Oh, and I've been seeing this a lot, so I'll do it too: I don't own any of the Lord of the Rings characters, lands, or whatnot. I own everything I've made up though. Enjoy and please R&R!***  
  
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"Is she dead?" asked Frodo. Merry, Frodo, and I had stumbled across the bloody, beaten up girl as we were making our way back to where Bilbo and Frodo lived.  
  
Merry crept closer. It was obviously a female. She wore a white shirt with no sleeves; something we'd never seen before. She also wore loose blue pants with moons and stars all over them. Her brownish hair was rumpled and coated with blood, as was the rest of her body. Suddenly, Merry jumped back. "It's a human!" he cried.  
  
"Technically, "it" is a "she"." I stated, leaning in for a closer look.  
  
"Pippin! Stay away from it! She may hurt you!" Yelled Merry, grabbing at my arm. Frodo was standing a few feet away, looking supremely baffled, as if torn in two different directions. Noticing my stare, he put his head down, not wanting to make up his mind yet about whatever it was he was thinking about.  
  
"She won't hurt me Merry. Why would she?" I asked, breaking free of his grasp and continuing on towards the girl. "Besides, if she isn't dead yet, she defiantly won't be able to do much. She needs help." Creeping closer, I noticed that she was kinda short for a human, though she was definitely taller that a hobbit. "Hmmm. . ." I wondered aloud. Turning I asked "Hey Frodo. Do you think she's alive?"  
  
"I don't know." He said, but he crept closer to her. Merry waited, unsure, on the road. Together, Frodo and I slowly made our way closer. . . and closer. . . and closer to the girl until we were practically on top of her.  
  
"Hey look Frodo! Her hair's kinda blondish too!" I said. This close, I noticed a couple other things. "Oh no! Look, her stomach's bleed'n! Merry!" I said turning, "You don't think she ate to much and her stomach exploded do you!?!"  
  
"Pippin, can't you think of anything other than your stomach and food? I mean honestly. . ." He said, as he too, joined us around the girl.  
  
"I wonder what her name is." Said Frodo.  
  
"Well. . . I'm gonna call her. . . GRACE!" I said, in a burst of supreme wisdom. Frodo and Merry shot me shocked looks, which I obviously took for admiration of my sudden brilliance. Frodo chuckled and shook his head.  
  
"Okay, she's Grace. Now, is she alive? I mean, there really isn't a point to naming a dead girl." At this, we all stepped back. "Well. . . let's find out, shall we?" Frodo stepped forward again and reached down. Slowly, he turned her head up.  
  
"Is she breathing?" Merry asked, breathless.  
  
"I don't know." Frodo said quietly. Suddenly, a huge clap of thunder sent of a noise and surprised the three of us out of our pants. Frodo's foot slipped on some leaves and he fell on Grace.  
  
"AHHH." She cried.  
  
"AHHHHH!." We screamed and ran. We didn't stop running until reaching Bilbo and Frodo's house where we discovered that the kindly old wizard, Gandalf, was having tea and a conversation with Bilbo.  
  
"Now what's the matter with you three?" Asked the wizard kindly. "Did a clap of thunder scare you or something? Oh. . . never fear, tis just a storm my little hobbits." Gandalf smiled and went back to having tea.  
  
"There's a girl!" Frodo shouted.  
  
"A human girl!" I put in.  
  
"And she's hurt!" Added Merry.  
  
"Her name's Grace!" I informed Gandalf.  
  
"She's dying, Bilbo!" Frodo said at last. All this was followed by us all talking and shouting about the girl.  
  
"SILENCE!" shouted Gandalf. "Now, Merry, why don't you tell me what this is all about." Demanded Gandalf, staring intently at Merry, who now shook.  
  
"Umm. . . Well, you see sir, that. . . I . . . uhh. . . We. . ." Merry stuttered along. Then all of a sudden, "We were walking along the road and suddenly we saw this girl along the side in a ditch and we thought she was dead, only we weren't sure, right?" he said quickly, and looking and me and Frodo for conformation.  
  
"Yes, that's it." Said Frodo. "So we went to look at her. She's dressed most strangely, and was really hurt. . . IS really hurt. . . and we thought she was dead, but we weren't sure."  
  
"So Frodo turned Grace's chin up to the sky and was just about to see if she was breathing." I said, taking over. "Only a loud piece a' thunder sounded and scared us all silly, and then Frodo slipped and fell on her!"  
  
At this, Frodo looked down, ashamed. "We all got scared after that and ran all the way here. We didn't know what to do." He said. "I think she cried when I fell on her." He added, sadly, head hanging.  
  
There was a long pause. Bilbo suddenly jerked up. "Gandalf, old friend, we'll take your cart and a couple blankets and go get the child. Frodo, you come with us too. Merry, you go get Holly and tell her we have a hurt child that needs a healing. She is hurt isn't she?" He asked. We all nodded. "Okay, you do that Merry. Pippin, you go to the third guest room and make up a bed for her. Put lots of extra blankets on it, she'll be cold. It's already starting to rain."  
  
Bilbo suddenly paused. Gandalf looked at him and said, "Well what are we waiting for? Let's go get the child."  
  
"Grace. Her name is Grace." I put in. 


	4. Of weapons and gardening

*** Hey I'm back again! I hope everyone's liking this story! I don't know if there actually are hobbit healers, but as I said, I'm changing the story up somewhat. Please review! Thank's so much! Love you all!!! ***  
  
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"Well, she needs a lot of rest. I don't know what type of wound she has. . . I've never seen anything like it before. Well, no, I take it back. I do know the stab wound below her right shoulder. It wasn't mortal, but it's in a damn inconvenient spot." I, a hobbit healer, was speaking to Gandalf and Bilbo. Merry and Pippin had gone home, while Frodo was out reading somewhere. "However. . . there is another wound she has that baffles me. . . it is circular almost. . . like a cylinder. . . I don't know a weapon that could make such a wound. . ." My voice trailed off and I frowned, deep in thought. The wounds of the human girl baffled me. In fact, the girl herself baffled me.  
  
First off, the girl's size was confusing. "Grace" was a tad bit short for a human, but to big for a hobbit or dwarf. Indeed, she had suffered quite the beating before Pippin, Merry, and Frodo had stumbled across her, but there were a multitude of scars covering her body, and the scars were often joined with bruises that were quite a bit older than some other ones she wore like a cape around her. Grace also seemed to have been starved, and her face was narrow. Her shoulder length brownish hair had been ripped out in some places, leaving a whole mess of different lengths upon her head. Yet, along with some physical ailments, some, like her stab wound and the mysterious cylinder wound, she was obviously being beat with some mental attacks. For the past five nights (which happens to be as long as I have been treating the child) she has thrashed around with nightmares, tearing open her wounds again and ruining the bandages.  
  
Not only she confused me though. It was also the objects and clothing that were found around her. A seven-foot long stick with an extremely sharp, curved, foot long blade at the top. The stick itself was not normal. At the bottom was about an inch of gold circling its end. Hanging from that were two strips of fabric, one pink, one blue, and each with a small bell attached. Above that, lasting for about the next third of the weapon (it was obviously a weapon) were three longer strips of fabric winding there way up and around till they reached a second gold circle. The fabric strips were pink, green, and purple. Upon the next third of the weapon were multiple carvings. One was of a moon, another of a deer, and another of an eye. There were many more carvings, at least twenty, upon the weapon as well. Above that, another gold circle was placed and more strips of fabric made up the last third of the weapon. This time, they were gold, silver, red, and white. When the stick was showed to Gandalf, he merely said, " When she wakes, we will have to ask her what it is." and went back to his tea with Bilbo.  
  
My daughter, Marina often accompanied me when I went to go check on the girl. She often seemed to pity her, and always wanted to help me with my healing. Yet, as skilled as Marina was, I was reluctant to let her work on the human, for my daughter was still an apprentice. This did not stop her however. Often, she would sit by and watch, which I had no problem with, and so I used it as an opportunity to teach her more about the arts of healing. At other times, she would wander outside and help Samwise with the gardening of Bilbo's garden. Many time's had I told her that gardening was not a necessary skill for a healer, but she simply told me that if she were out in the middle of nowhere and found someone hurt, she would want to know the plants to gather and where to find them. She also told me quite often that it was silly that gardeners had to bring the healers the herbs that we requested as soon as we asked. Indeed, my daughter was headstrong, and had a most un-hobbit like manor indeed.  
  
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A couple days later.  
  
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"Well." Said Gandalf, getting up from his chair. "I'll be going now."  
  
"What!" yelled Bilbo, "But the girl has not yet awoken! Surely you must be here when she awakes?!?" Apparently, Bilbo did not like the idea of being left with the human to deal with by himself.  
  
"Do you need me in order for you to simply say hello and ask her where she came from?" Asked Gandalf, smiling at Bilbo. "No, you do not, plus, I do not want to overstay my welcome. Say goodbye to Frodo for me, won't you now? Thank you."  
  
"But-but Gandalf! What if she means us harm!?!" Asked Bilbo with one last pleading look at his friend. "And you most certainly are not over staying your welcome!"  
  
"My friend, I have business I must attend to, plus I need to report to Saruman." At this, the girl moaned a little and turned over.  
  
"Bother! Now look, she's opened that wound on her shoulder again!" I said.  
  
"I'm terribly sorry Holly. Please, accept my apologies." Said the wizard, smirking as he bowed.  
  
Before I could answer Bilbo said hurriedly "Yes, yes, of course she forgives you. I mean, it's not like you did anything. All you did was speak, and we've been speaking all day! And for many day's before hand! How long has it been now? A week? Eight days? Nine days?-"  
  
"My friend," said Gandalf, laying a hand on Bilbo's shoulder "You are babbling on. It has been nine days now."  
  
"And I can answer for myself you know!" I declared as I cleaned the child's newly re-opened and bleeding shoulder for what seemed to me the hundredth time. Indeed, never had I had a patient who squirmed as much as she did, nor one who managed to ruin the bandages and tear open their wounds as much as the girl before me now.  
  
"Yes, I'm most sorry Holly." Said Bilbo. "But won't you stay Gandalf? Just for a few day's longer? It's no trouble." Gandalf put on his hat and grabbed his staff.  
  
"No, I'm sorry my friend, I will probably be reporting late as it is. Though never fear, I shall be back soon. Give me about three weeks. Bye then, Holly's healing skills will have taken effect on the child and she should be alive and well." Gandalf opened the door to the home and stepped outside.  
  
"Hullo Master Gandalf sir!" Greeted Samwise. "My now, isn't the air wonderful today? And look, I've even my esteemed helper, Marina work'n with me today!" He slapped her on the back, and my daughter blushed slightly. "Oh hullo Holly! I say, you're daughter is quite good with the garden'n my lady."  
  
"That may be, but she's meant for higher things Samwise Gamgee, and you should know that. Come now Marina, it is not a healer's place in the garden." I said, pointing to the spot next to me, and indicating at my daughter to come.  
  
"Mother. . . You are in the garden as well." Marina smirked.  
  
"I most certainly am. . .not" I finished slowly, looking down at my surroundings. Yes, I was definitely in the garden.  
  
"I'm afraid, milady, and mean'n no disrespect or nothing, that you are nowhere near as good as Marina with the plants. I mean, look at 'cha there! Smushing the lilies!" At this, everyone laughed, including Gandalf and Bilbo.  
  
"Come now, Holly. Marina's just fine there in the garden. Why don't you come back inside with me and we'll make sure the girl hasn't re-opened that bothersome shoulder wound again." Bilbo said, as he took my by the arm and led me back inside. "Good bye Gandalf! I shall be awaiting your return!  
  
*** Oh no! Gandalf is leaving to go see Saruman! Rhia, now called Grace, has still not awakened. What is to come in the next chapter. . . Well, soon we shall see! *** 


	5. Of awakenings and Languages

*** Arg. . . Writers block. . . and idea's for the upcoming chapters, but not done with present chapters. . . and school. . . and work! Well, life goes on! Update's are slowing down a tad, so sorry for that. Well, anyway, hope you enjoy! ***  
  
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"Oww. . ." I groaned. My right shoulder hurt more than anything I'd felt in quite some time and my stomach felt as if it had been torn and shattered at the same time. The world was pitch black too and I desperately wanted to know why. Slowly my mind came back to me. 'Dimwit.' I thought. 'Your eyes are closed. Open 'em and then you will see!' Slowly, I started to open my eyes, but then another thought came to me. 'No. . . don't open them. I'll just be lying in the basement with my family. Why aren't I dead yet?' I turned over and willed myself to die. . . just. . . die. Get it over with.  
  
But then, something else occurred to me. Two things actually. I had fallen down the stairs and landed in the basement. The basement floor was concrete, and whatever I was laying on was anything but hard concrete plus a blanket covered me. I could feel the warmth it brought me. Also, if I was still where I had fallen when Suzanne had pushed me, then I should smell the blood and the rotting of my brother and sister and the mere thought brought chills to my spin. Yet right now, I smelled flowers! A breeze was falling through the room and I could feel the sun glowing onto me. 'What the Hell?' I thought, perplexed.  
  
'Open your eyes and see where you are, and then you can die. I don't think you can make yourself die if your mind is spinning wildly like it is now, so just figure out where the Hell you are so you can die.' I thought to myself. Amazing how it is, I didn't think I could really make myself die, yet I was telling myself I could, almost promising myself I would.  
  
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Two minutes later and a switch in characters.  
  
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"Honestly Holly, Marina will be fine, plus Sam is right; Marina is a wonderful gardener. Now, now, don't give me that look Holly! Your daughter is a wonderful healer too, but that doesn't mean she has to choose between healing and gardening. The two skills may come in handy together." I said, as I led Holly back towards the girl's room.  
  
"Humph! A garden is no place for a healer! Especially not a healer who is MY daughter!" As nice as Holly was, and as good as her intentions were, she had always thought of herself as better than most other hobbits. She trusted no one and viewed all hobbits of a lower class (which was practically everyone according to her) as stupid and undeserving of her attention. Yet she had a good side to her too. It was rare that a patient died under her care, and when this did happen, she became depressed for days, no matter what class they had happened to be.  
  
"Well, Marina will make her own choices Holly. She is her own person." I stated, sighing.  
  
"Oh. . . my. . . Bilbo. . . the child. . . she's awake!"  
  
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One minute earlier and yet another switch in characters.  
  
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My eyes had finally adjusted to the light. I was NOT in the basement anymore, but I certainly didn't think I was in a hospital either. The room was bright! There was one HUGE window on the left, and outside I could see some trees and a few particularly tall flowers. The bed I was on was nice and warm, but it was really close to the ground and my feet almost went off the edge. In addition, the ceiling was rather low too. 'Okay. . . so am I living with dwarfs now?' I thought. 'Or wait. . . maybe I'm dead already. No, I'm not dead. You can't feel pain when you are dead, and I am definitely feeling pain.' I contemplated as I rubbed my shoulder and curled a little tighter hoping to help my stomach.  
  
Suddenly, my ears picked up sound coming from down the hallway. It sounded like people talking! Curling up in fright and pulling my head down under the covers, my breathing began to come really fast. 'Dimwit.' I thought. 'It's not like they don't know you're here. . . and you're acting like a fricking two year old afraid of a monster!' Still, I couldn't bring myself to come out from under the covers. 'Scardy cat! They won't kill you! And even if they did, it would be what you were just begging for!' Still, I huddled under the covers.  
  
'Listen. . . I'll just listen to them. See what they want.' I thought to myself. Opening my ears, I listened as hard as I could through the covers. The voices were so mumbled by the sheets and the comforter that it sounded like they were speaking an entirely different language. Poking my head out of the covers a tad, I strained my ears even harder to try and pick up what they were saying. . . but their words were still un-intelligible to me.  
  
'What the heck? Did I get the sense knocked out of me so bad that I couldn't understand English? No. . . I'm thinking in English. . . aren't I?' I thought. 'Alright, just poke your head out further and figure out what the heck is going on.'  
  
Precariously sitting up, I listened with everything I could. Still I couldn't understand what the people were saying, though I could discern that there was one guy and one girl. 'Oh good. . . I can't understand them . . . and it isn't Spanish either.' I had been in my second year of Spanish. 'Just my luck. This must be Hell and the Devil is putting me through the language torture.' Waiting for whoever it was to come around the corner, I listened to see if the language they spoke was anything like anything my friends had spoke. Karin had spoken a number of languages from India, in addition to French and Japanese. She had also attempted to teach me each and every one of them. Of course she had failed miserably, but it wasn't her fault. I have always been horrible with languages, while she on the other hand picked them up like cake. The few words I had learned from those various languages, didn't sound like the language whoever it was out there was speaking. Of course, Harris could speak German. . . I wonder if they were speaking German? No. . . It didn't have enough throat noises. That had always been my favorite thing when Harris had also attempted to teach me another language; the throat noises that the German language uses. I had told Harris once that it was a wonder they didn't get sore throats more often. He had told me to cut the crap and learn. I had then proceeded to laugh.  
  
Ah yes, memories . . . interesting how the past would play a part in the future. 


	6. Of MiniMan and a Lost Possession

*** Hey all!!! Let's see. . . I haven't updated this one for. . . almost seven months!!! How horrid!! I'm terribly sorry, but I'm back now! I changed a few things around in the previous chapters because seven months of just thinking and no doing can change the plot line, so if you get confused, look back at the past chapters please. Oh, and just some FYI: The Rhia in this story isn't necessarily me; I chose the name before I decided that it would be the name I wanted to go by on here. Now, onto the personal thanks! Thanks to Karategurl for the great review. I'm finally continuing!! See you at school! LadyA, I'm glad you seem to be liking this, and I'm sorry that the first chapter was um. . . how do you say. . . to graphic. Hehe. See ya' around! Berserk Eva-00, I'm glad you seem to be liking this. It is a nifty cool idea you had, and being as I did promise to add you in, I shall. But you will have to wait to be added!!! OMG!!! Elvenhorse added me to their favorite list!!! Whoo hoo!!! Love and cookies!! Okay, now that that's done, I hope you all enjoy the story. Please tell me all you are thinking, because as the author, I need to know it. Hugs and kisses. ***  
  
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Chapter six: Of Mini-Man and a Lost Possession  
  
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'Yeah. . . alrighty then, there are two miniature people staring at me. And they definitely don't look like anything I've ever seen before. What on earth are they wearing?' My mind was working in ultra-slow motion, taking in the stupidest details and asking the most obscure questions. 'I wonder if they can run very quickly. . . those legs don't look like it. . . maybe they run like a duck.'  
  
I claim injury to be the reasoning behind my stupidity.  
  
Anyway, the tiny people were now standing stock-still and staring at me. I was sitting/laying stock-still and staring at them. Very interesting I'm sure. "Hi." I said, after a few moments. The guy blinked, but said nothing. The girl didn't even blink. It was kinda freaky. "I'm Rhia." I said, trying to get them to move. . . or something. . . anything really. This was getting REALLY un-nerving. If only mini-female would just blink every now and then. It was like I was Medusa and she'd been turned to stone.  
  
Mini-Man finally did move, after what seemed like five more minutes of the un-announced staring contest. I'd become increasingly fidgety and the want to lay back down was getting stronger by the second. I couldn't remember the last time I was so tired. 'Well no shit you're tired. You dimwit, you've been shot, stabbed, and now you're in some random place with two mini-people looking at you. You're more than tired, you're fuckin' insane.'  
  
Well, at least Mini-Man had moved. Not that he'd moved that far. He'd just side stepped closer to the window. Why? Who knows? Maybe he would just hop out. That would be a sight to see. The insane part of me was debating suddenly shouting and scaring the wits out of Mini-Man just to see if he would do it. But no. . . that would take energy, something that my body suddenly seemed to lacking in quite horribly.  
  
"You know what Mini-Man and Mini-Woman? I don't care who you are. It's obvious that if you'd wanted me dead that you would have killed me before hand, so I have nothing to fear. Right? Well, if that's the case, I'm going to sleep again. Maybe when I wake up, Mini-Woman will have blinked once or maybe even twice." I looked at MM and MW. Neither replied to me. "Are you mute?" I asked.  
  
MM blinked again, but said nothing.  
  
"This is insane!! If I weren't in so much Goddamn pain, I'd smack you both! If you aren't going to SAY anything or DO anything, then STOP LOOKING AT ME!!! IT'S WEIRD!!!" Okay, yeah, I was peeved. And I was in pain, and I was tired, and I was confused. Two mute mini-people weren't helping in any of it. Why couldn't I just be dead!?!  
  
The mini-people said nothing, but MW did blink. At least now she was showing some sign of life. "You know what? Screw you. I'm going to sleep. Kill me if you want, see if I care. I should be dead anyway." And with that I lay back down and tried to ignore the mini-people. I'd almost succeded too. Sleep was just about to over take me as my mind turned back to my cousin's basement. Chad's necklace was around my neck and Adie's ring was. . .  
  
"WHERE'S ADIE'S RING!!!!!"  
  
*** Okay, I've finally updated!! Please press that little button and tell me what you think!! Thanks. *** 


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